Social Affairs Reporter

IT'S generation Y's dirty little secret. They might be working, studying and roaming the globe but it's mum who still picks up their grotty socks and puts a hot meal on the table.

The division of domestic labour in Australian households with adult children in residence has been examined for the first time and the results are not pretty.

Researchers from the University of NSW found that mothers do roughly six times more housework than their adult sons, 4.4 times times more than their grown up daughters and about twice as much as the father in the house.

Illustration: Cathy Wilcox

The author of the research, Associate Professor Lyn Craig of the university's Social Policy Research Centre, wanted to call her study ''Does it Ever End?'' to reflect the experiences of Australian mothers.

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''You might think as the children get older they would make a more equal contribution to housework, cleaning, cooking and washing, but it's really not the case,'' she said.

''It does seem to be a sticky problem. You would hope for more signs of change which are sadly not really there.''

The research, to be presented at the Australian Women and Gender Studies Association Biennial Conference at the university on Friday, analysed the housework habits of 5512 young people aged 15-34 years living in the family home, using Bureau of Statistics data.

It found that 97 per cent of mothers did some domestic work every day, compared to 81 per cent of fathers, 73 per cent of young women and 54 per cent of young men.

Mothers do 229 minutes of domestic work each day, compared with 111 minutes for fathers, 52 minutes for young women and 38 minutes for young men.

While one in four people aged 20-34 opt to live in the parental home, they are not necessarily becoming less of a burden on their parents, the study found.

''It's difficult to change roles within the family home,'' Professor Craig said.

''If mum has always done the laundry and dad has always mowed the lawn, there is an expectation that that will continue even when the adult children are old enough to do it themselves. The expectations don't really shift even though the children are old enough to live independently.''

Dr Jennifer Baxter, senior research fellow with the Australian Institute of Family Studies said inequitable division of housework could be a source of tension in some families.

Jess Kirkby, 24, still lives in the family home at Belrose.

''I take responsibility for things which directly affect me like my washing and tidying my bedroom,'' she said. ''But the general housework is still very much my parents' domain.''

135 comments

Why did the researchers have to go to all that trouble- any of us with a gen Y at home already are painfully aware of their limitations. My 23 year old nephew explained his perpetual pigsty : "Me and my brother were born lazy. There is nothing we can do about it". It's a pity Supernanny was not around a bit earlier to show us the errors of our spoiling ways when they were little!

Commenter

agasageek

Location

Sydney

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 8:58AM

Much as I love piling into Gen Y, isn't this just a "kid living at home with parents" thing rather than some endemic problem with an entire generation?

'twas ever thus..

Commenter

David

Location

Sydney

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 11:53AM

Because this article is just the latest in a long chain of complaints.

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint" - Hesiod, 8th Century BC

"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress." - Peter the Hermit, 1274AD

Commenter

Nick

Location

Miranda

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 11:58AM

Nice one Nick, it's not just today's kids, but it is inherent in all generations ;)

To ensure that laziness does not continue into adulthood, start your kids doing their chores young. My 9 & 12yr old kids are responsible for their rooms, the daily dishes & general tidiness of the mess they cause. If they don't do these things, they don't get to do what they want in their free time, e.g. games, toys, TV etc. Both of my kids get all this done within an hour of getting home from school, & once their homework is done, they still have plenty of time for play :D

Commenter

Indeed

Location

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 1:24PM

Nick, while your sentiments are right, the quotes are Internet fables. Neither Hesiod nor Peter the Hermit actually said those things.

Commenter

ST

Location

Sydney

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 3:18PM

People still living at home with mummy and daddy at 34??

Commenter

weird

Location

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 8:58AM

I assume that by "Gen Y" in this article you actually mean "Gen Y under 21 who live at home with their parents". Which is in fact a small minority of us.

Some of those counted as Gen Y are now in their thirties and have children of their own, I have no idea how this article is supposed to be relevant to such a wide demographic.

And plenty of us older "Gen Yers" left home in our teens, thanks very much, and worked our butts off to support ourselves through study with no help from our parents.

Commenter

Red Pony

Location

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 9:02AM

Actually if your in your thirties your technically considered at the end bit of Gen X =P

Gen Y is technically considered to be between their 20's

Commenter

RocK_M

Location

I want chinese take-away!

Date and time

November 23, 2012, 11:26AM

GenY are those born from 1980 onwards. Therefore, they're as old as 32.

Not that any 32yo should be living with their parents. By that time you should have finished uni and gotten a real job and be paying your own way in life. Those that aren't are a product of poor parenting. Their parents should have knocked some sense into them and shunted them on their way long ago.